Apparatus for mechanically treating metal and plastic surfaces



- July 10, 1962 H TERR 3,043,065

S. APPARATUS FOR MECHANIC Y TREATING METAL PLAS SURFACES F'il Jan. 1961 6L A .U

| D 9 5 J 110/ K H F 5 2 I I f if g 14 INVENTOR. STEPHEN H TEAREL BY M 7" A77'0/PNEX United States Patent Stephan H. Terrel, 144 Short Hills Ave., Springfield, NJ.

Filed Jan. 19, 1961, Ser. No. 31,773 4 Claims. (Ci. 51 195 This invention relates in general to the treating mechanically of the surfaces of metals or synthetic plastic materials for various purposes, and more particularly, the invention contemplates the decorating of surfaces of metal leaf or foil, for example, such as is used. in the manufacture of decalcomanias. While the decoration may be of different character, the invention is especially directed toward the provision of a decoration and method of producing it wherein a surface is abraded in areas of approximately circular outline formed by rotating abrading, burnishing or polishing tools mounted on driving spindles, sometimes known as machine twisting.

Objects of the invention are to provide a method and apparatus involving the use of an abrading or burnishing tool mounted on a revoluble spindle and of such nature and soshaped that a sharp definition of the circular outline of the abraded area formed by the tool shall be avoided and circular grooves or scratches visible to the naked eye shall be reduced to the minimum whereby to produce a novel and attractive decorative effect; and to provide such a method and abrading tool whereby extremely thin metal leaf can be so treated without danger of destroying the metal leaf.

Another object of the invention is to provide an abrading bufi'ing or polishing tool or apparatus of the character described which shall include a novel and improved construction and combination of a driving or support block for attachment to a driving spindle, a body separably attached to said driving block in a novel and improved manner and a soft resilient facepiece separably attached to the body in a similar manner and containing or supporting an abrasive or treating material, whereby bodies of different sizes and shapes can be interchangeably used with facepieces of different sizes and shapes, and facepieces can be easily and quickly interchanged to permit change of abrasives or because of Wear of the facepieces, and thereby make possible the adaptation of the tool to different purposes, for example, for light or fine abrasion of the thin metal leaf or for heavy or coarse abrasions of thicker sheets or" materials andalso provide substantially continuous operation with a minimum loss of time incident to changing of the parts of the tools, which insures an exceptionally high rate of production.

Still further object of the invention are to provide an abrading tool or apparatus of the character described which shall include novel and improved features ofconstruction such that the pressure applied to the surface being treated by the tool may be easily, accurately and finely varied to'vary the nature of theabrading action at different zones of the abraded area, and particularly so a set screw 15.

in the size of the treated area and to insure against the leaving of an untreated central portion in the treated area.

Other objects, advantages and results of the invention will be brought out by the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings'in which: 7

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of an abrading tool embodying the invention showing it mounted in the chuck of a machine driving spindle that is schematically illustrated by broken lines;

FIGURE 2 is a top planview of the abrading tool;

FIGURE 3 is a central vertical sectional view approximately on the plane of the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 showing the facepiece disposed eccentrically to the axis of rotation of the driving head and machine spindle and also showing another form of the body; and

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view of the several parts of the abrading tool illustrated in FIGURE 1. Specifically describing the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGURES l, 2 and 3, the reference character A designates a drive rod one end of which is adapted to be attached in any suitable manner to a driving spindle,

for example by a clutch B- of a known type of multiple spindle engine turning machine. On the other end portion of the drive rod is separably mounted a cylindrical driving or support block C of suitable rigid material of adequate strength to resist the pressure necessary to steady operation of the tool, for example metal, which has a central or coaxial socket 14- in which the end of the rod is fitted and rigidly held by suitable means such as In accordance with the invention, there are separably associated with the drive block and each other, a body D and a facepiece E in such a way that the drive block,

. eluding pressure sensitive adhesive so that the parts can that such pressure shall gradually decrease from the center of the facepiece toward the perimeter thereof; and to provide such a tool the construction of which shall permit easy and quick adjustment or disposition of the abrading face eccentrically with respectto the axis of rotation of the driving or support block, to facilitate the treatment of harder materials, to provide for variation be connected and disconnected by simple and quick motions such as exerting pressure or pushes and tension or pulls on the parts. f

The facepiece preferably is mushroom shaped and formed of yielding or resilient material which contains or supports the various abrasives or polishing materials. For example, the facepiece may be formed of soft rubberlike material in which an abrasive powder is embedded,

or having a rough or porous surface in'which abrasive powder may be carried or supported; and the facepiece is preferablycircular in plan with its abrasive-carrying SUI? I face segmentally spherically convex as indicated at 1 and its opposite surface or bottom or rear side fiat as indicated The body D is also formed of resilient material such as rubber and is so shaped that when the facepiece is pressed against the surface to be treated, the pressure of the facepiece on the surface may be gradually varied from the center of the facepiece to'theperirneter'thereof, and as shown, the body is elongated and circular in, plan and transverse cross-section and has a fiat front surface 3 at wis es 3 one end and a fiat rear surface 4 that are preferably parallel to each other and perpendicular to the axis of the body; and the intermediate portion'of the body has a circumferential groove so that the diameter of the body at said groove is less than the diameter of the front end surface 3. This type of body is especimly useful Where light pressures and delicate treated surfaces are involved, and FIGURE 4 shows a modified form of the body which is intended for use where greater pressures or harder or tougher'surfaces to be treated are involved. Here the body D has a flat front or top surface 3' and a flat rear or bottom surface 4' and the body is frusto-conical in shape with its larger diameter at the top or front side 3'.

While the size, shape and proportions of the parts may be varied for different conditionsyit may be said with reference to the facepiece E, that where the diameter is about 2 inches, the height or length at the center should be about /2 inch or one-quarter the diameter, and the edge portions 7 should be of a height or length of about /s inch or one-quarterof the height at the center of the body. Where thebody is shaped like the body D and has a 2-inch diameter at the. front or top surface 3, the diameter of the rear or bottom surface 4' should be about 1 inch or one-half the diameter of the top surface; and the height or length of the body should be about of an inch.

Now referring to the body D, the two end surfaces 3 and 4 maybe of. the same diameter, for example, 2 inches, in which case the height or length of the body would be about 1 inch, and the groove 5 would have a width and depth each about of an inch.

Now referring to the separable connections of the severalparts, a sheet 8 of tough material is permanently and firmly secured to the rear or bottom surface 2of the facepiece bymeans of a known type of adhesive 9. The side of rotating at relatively high speeds, for example, 200 r .p.m., and the tool is moved to cause contact of its face i with the surface F to be treated; and While the tool is a being rotated, pressure is exerted thereon longitudinally of the drive rod and drive-support block C, that is, downwardly in FIGURE 1 of the drawings so as to press the convex face 1 of the facepiece into contact with the surace F. During this operationthe area of contact increases as the convex surface l tends to flatten, the facepiece and the body being resiliently yieldable as above described. Due to the shape of the body, there will be a wobbling of the body due to the portions between the facepiece and the drive-support block of less diameter than the facepiece greater degree of yieldability at the outer portions of the facepiece than at its center. Suitable abrasive or polishing powders or liquids can be used depending upon the materials being treatedand the nature of the treatment desired. I v

The mushroom shape of the abrasive-carrying surface 1 of the facepiece prevents the contact of the entire abrading surface with the surface being treated at the same time and the pressure gradually decreases from the center to the perimeter of the facepiece. Thus the abrading or polishing effect starts atthe center'of the abrasive surface and gradually extends toward the perimeter of the facepiece so that a scratching effect is followed by a polishing effect as the pressure is applied to the facepiece. This opof the Sheet 8 opposite the layer of adhesive 9 carries a known type of pressure sensitive adhesive that is separably adhered'to the front or top surface 3 of the body which also is treated as indicated at 10, and that sheets and the facepiece may be adhesively connected to the body and held against accidental separation incident to twistingor rotating motion but can be detached from the body by a lifting or tilting motion of the sheet. 8. To.

facilitate handling of the sheet and the facepiece, the sheet has a radially projecting tab 11. I

The body is separably attached 'to the drive block or adhesive connection 13 like the connection .10, 1'1, with the end of the support block C. 1

With construction, it will be observed that bodies of'dilferent sizes and shapes can be easily and quickly interchanged with facepieces of difieren-t sizes and shapes, and different facepieces can be readily interchanged to permit change of abrasives or polishers e.g. soft textiles and plastics or to allow replacement of facepieces in case of wear or damage or for making variousshaped designs. The hole 14 in the drive block is preferably of sufficient depth to permit adjustment of the block longitudinal: 1y of the drive rod A to insure proper contact ofthe facepiece with the surface to be treated. The diameter of the drive block is less than the diameter of the juxtaposed end of the body, the diameter being made smaller where the decoration is to be applied under light pressure or on diameter, the softer will be the effect of the outer edges of the treated area and the smaller will be that area.

The use and operation of the tool will readily be understood from the foregoing, but it might be pointed out that the tool is attached to a driving spindle which is capable eration reduces to the minimum visible scratches or grooves and produces an attractive and novel light-reflecting decorative effect.

The elimination 'or reduction of the visible scratches or grooves can be further insured by. attaching the facepiece to the body in eccentric relation to the axis A of the drive rod A as shown in FIGURE 4; and this arrangement also eliminates the possibility of leaving an unpolished portion at the center of the treated area.

The invention permits the operator to achieve the rnachine designs of thetexture and character that has resupport block C in the same manner, a sheet 12 like the i increase in rates and quality of production.

quired hand operation of the abrading tool in the past, so that a person with little or no skill can achieve the work of a craftsman. 'Furthermore, a large number of the tools can be mounted in a multiple spindle machine and thereby effect great savings in time and labor and corresponding Where extra brightness or, for example, a satin finish is desired, certain'known types of fluids can be used with or separate from the abrasives, and some of such fluids may also be used for cleaning the treated surfaces of the materials and can be left on the surfaces or removed depending on the type of surface. Other fluids may be used to reduce the friction or to lubricate the abrasive material.

In some cases, it may be desirable to arrange the abrasive material on the facepiece'in separate zones so that loose particles of soft material may be centrifugally thrown oif between said zones and thereby preventing the abrasive from clogging, and'prolonging its life. For example, the surface 1 of the facepiece might be embossed or cut so as to produce spaced projections in the form of crescents, crosses or other shapes.

Other modifications and changes in the details of construction of the tool and in the method of mechanically treating surfaces maybe madewithin the spirit and scope of the invention. Also, it will be understood that various resilient materials may be used in the facepiece and the body, such as ordinary rubber, foam rubber, polyurethane foam and the like. I

I claim: a I

l. A surface-treating tool comprising a body and means for separably connecting it to a driving spindle for rotation, a facepiecerhaving a surface-treating front face, and a separable pressure-sensitive adhesive connection between said body and the rear face of said facepiece, said connection including a sheet of tough material having a finger tabprojecting beyond the peripheral surfaces of said body and said facepiece to be gripped for pulling of the facepiece away from the body.

'2. A surface-treating tool including a drive-support block separably connectible to a driving spindle, a facepiece having at one end thereof a segmentally spherical convex abrading face, and an elongated body circular and continuous in transverse cross-section and resilient throughout its length and transverse cross-section, said body having its opposite ends coaxial and connected to said drive-support block and to said facepiece, respectively, and having a portion between said facepiece and said drive-support block substantially less in diameter than said facepiece.

3. The surface-treating tool as defined in claim 2 2958166 wherein said body has a coaxial circumferential groove 15 5 wherein said body is frusto-conical and is connected at its smaller end to said drive-support block.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 681,836 Scott Sept. 3, 1901 2,547,057 Stieghtz Apr. 3, 1951 2,644,280 ONeil July 7, 1953 Poland Nov. 1, 1960 

